He is revered the world over for his prodigious literary output, including thousands of poems and songs. But what the world will now get to know about Rabindranath Tagore is that through his travels to over 30 countries he became India's peace envoy and outlined a vision of humanism and unity of mankind.

To commemorate the 150th birth anniversary of Tagore, the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) is publishing a commemorative volume titled "Tagore and Diplomacy".

The book project is being launched Tuesday. The volume will be released at an international conference on Rabindranath Tagore - "Legendary Envoy of India: His Vision of India and World" - to be held at Sapru House, New Delhi, on Tagore's next birthday May 7, 2013.

The book is to be edited by Radha Chakraborty and former ambassador Suryakanthi Tripathi. It intends to reflect upon Tagore's global legacy as an envoy of India, highlighting his vision of independent India in a peaceful and unified world.

"The volume aims to explore his travels to various countries and discuss how his journeys contributed to his philosophy of internationalism, universalism, humanism and spiritual unity and religion of man," says Sarvajit Chakravarti, acting director general of ICWA.

"It also hopes to illuminate the influence of his ideas upon the evolution and continuing ethos of Indian foreign policy. The book will have four main thrust areas : a) Tagore's travels to Europe b) Tagore's tours to the Americas c) Tagore's voyages to Asia and Africa d) Tagore's travels: Influence on the ethos of Indian Foreign Policy," he said.

Tagore travelled to 34 countries ranging from Argentina to Japan in his lifetime. ICWA hopes to include articles/papers by scholars from those countries. It has already received nominations of various Tagore scholars from  17 countries.

Some of the renowned Tagore scholars who would be contributing to the volume are Kathaleen O' Connel (Canada), William Radice, Michael Collins (UK), Sergei Dmitriyevich Serebriany (Russisa), Sharmila Roy, Francis Bhattacharya (France), Sonia Berjman (Argentina), Sandra Chistilini (Italy), Alexander Shurbanov (Bulgaria), Dong Youchen, (China), Yukifumi Takeuchi (Japan), Ghada Ahmed Nabil Mahmoud Mostafa (Egypt), Sawitree Charoenpong (Thailand), Syed Manrul Islam, Anisuzzaman (Bangladesh), K.N.O. Dharmadasa (Sri Lanka).

 --Indo-Asian News Service New Delhi, May 8